CHAPTER 1. General Provisions and Definitions [26000 - 26002]

(a) This division shall be known, and may be cited, as the Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act.

(b) The purpose and intent of this division is to establish a comprehensive system to control and regulate the cultivation, distribution, transport, storage, manufacturing, processing, and sale of both of the following:

(2) Adult-use cannabis and adult-use cannabis products for adults 21 years of age and over.

(c) In the furtherance of subdivision (b),
this division sets forth the power and duties of the state agencies responsible for controlling and regulating the commercial medicinal and adult-use cannabis industry.

(d) The Legislature may, by majority vote, enact laws to implement this division, provided those laws are consistent with the purposes and intent of the Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act.

(a) “A-license” means a state license issued under this division for cannabis or cannabis products that are intended for adults who are 21 years of age and older and who do not possess a physician’s recommendation.

(b) “A-licensee” means any person holding a license under this division for cannabis or cannabis products that are intended for adults who are 21 years of age and older and who do not possess a physician’s recommendation.

(c) “Applicant” means an owner applying for a state license pursuant to this division.

(d) “Batch” means a specific quantity of homogeneous cannabis or cannabis product that is one of the following types:

(1) Harvest batch. “Harvest batch” means a specifically identified quantity of dried flower or trim, leaves, and other cannabis plant matter that is uniform in strain, harvested at the same time, and, if applicable, cultivated using the same pesticides and other agricultural chemicals, and harvested at the same time.

(A) An amount of cannabis concentrate or extract that is produced in one production cycle using the same extraction methods and standard operating procedures.

(B) An amount of a type of manufactured cannabis produced in
one production cycle using the same formulation and standard operating procedures.

(e) “Bureau” means the Bureau of Cannabis Control within the Department of Consumer Affairs, formerly named the Bureau of Marijuana Control, the Bureau of Medical Cannabis Regulation, and the Bureau of Medical Marijuana Regulation.

(f) “Cannabis” means all parts of the plant Cannabis sativa Linnaeus, Cannabis indica, or Cannabis ruderalis, whether growing or not; the seeds thereof; the resin, whether crude or purified, extracted from any part of the plant; and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of the plant, its seeds, or resin. “Cannabis” also means the separated resin, whether crude or purified, obtained from cannabis. “Cannabis” does not include the mature stalks of the plant, fiber produced from the stalks, oil or cake made from the seeds of the plant, any
other compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of the mature stalks (except the resin extracted therefrom), fiber, oil, or cake, or the sterilized seed of the plant which is incapable of germination. For the purpose of this division, “cannabis” does not mean “industrial hemp” as defined by Section 11018.5 of the Health and Safety Code.

(g) “Cannabis accessories” has the same meaning as in Section 11018.2 of the Health and Safety Code.

(h) “Cannabis concentrate” means cannabis that has undergone a process to concentrate one or more active cannabinoids, thereby increasing the product’s potency. Resin from granular trichomes from a cannabis plant is a concentrate for purposes of this division. A cannabis concentrate is not considered food, as defined by Section 109935 of the Health and Safety Code, or a drug, as defined by Section 109925 of the Health and
Safety Code.

(i) “Cannabis products” has the same meaning as in Section 11018.1 of the Health and Safety Code.

(j) “Child resistant” means designed or constructed to be significantly difficult for children under five years of age to open, and not difficult for normal adults to use properly.

(m) “Cultivation site” means a location where cannabis is planted, grown, harvested, dried, cured, graded, or trimmed, or a location where any combination of those activities occurs.

(n) “Customer” means a natural person 21 years of age or older or a natural person 18 years of age or older who possesses a physician’s recommendation, or a primary caregiver.

(o) “Day care center” has the same meaning as in Section 1596.76 of the Health and Safety Code.

(p) “Delivery” means the commercial transfer of cannabis or cannabis products to a customer. “Delivery” also includes the use by a retailer of any technology platform.

(q) “Director” means the Director of Consumer Affairs.

(r) “Distribution” means the procurement, sale, and transport of cannabis and cannabis products between licensees.

(s) “Dried flower” means all dead cannabis that has been harvested, dried, cured, or otherwise processed, excluding leaves and stems.

(t) “Edible cannabis product” means cannabis product that is intended to be used, in whole or in part, for human consumption, including, but not limited to, chewing gum, but excluding products set forth in Division 15 (commencing with Section 32501) of the Food and Agricultural Code. An edible cannabis product is not considered food, as defined by Section 109935 of the Health and Safety Code, or a drug, as defined by Section 109925 of the Health and Safety Code.

(u) “Fund” means the Cannabis Control Fund established pursuant to Section 26210.

(v) “Kind” means applicable type or designation regarding a particular cannabis variant or cannabis product type, including, but not limited to, strain name or other grower trademark, or growing area designation.

(w) “Labeling” means any label or other written, printed, or graphic matter upon a cannabis product, upon its container or wrapper, or that accompanies any cannabis product.

(x) “Labor peace agreement” means an agreement between a licensee and any bona fide labor organization that, at a minimum, protects the state’s proprietary interests by prohibiting labor organizations and members from engaging in picketing, work stoppages, boycotts, and any other economic interference with the applicant’s business. This agreement means that the applicant has agreed not to disrupt efforts by the bona fide labor organization
to communicate with, and attempt to organize and represent, the applicant’s employees. The agreement shall provide a bona fide labor organization access at reasonable times to areas in which the applicant’s employees work, for the purpose of meeting with employees to discuss their right to representation, employment rights under state law, and terms and conditions of employment. This type of agreement shall not mandate a particular method of election or certification of the bona fide labor organization.

(y) “License” means a state license issued under this division, and includes both an A-license and an M-license, as well as a testing laboratory license.

(z) “Licensee” means any person holding a license under this division, regardless of whether the license held is an A-license or an M-license, and includes the holder of a testing laboratory license.

(aa) “Licensing authority” means the state agency responsible for the issuance, renewal, or reinstatement of the license, or the state agency authorized to take disciplinary action against the licensee.

(ag) “Manufacture” means to compound, blend, extract, infuse, or otherwise make or prepare a cannabis product.

(ah) “Manufacturer” means a licensee that conducts the production, preparation, propagation, or compounding of cannabis or cannabis products either directly or indirectly or by extraction methods, or independently by means of chemical synthesis, or by a combination of extraction and chemical synthesis at a fixed location that packages or repackages cannabis or cannabis products or labels or relabels its container.

(ai) “Medicinal cannabis” or “medicinal cannabis product” means cannabis or a cannabis product, respectively, intended to be sold for use pursuant to the Compassionate Use Act of 1996 (Proposition
215), found at Section 11362.5 of the Health and Safety Code, by a medicinal cannabis patient in California who possesses a physician’s recommendation.

(aj) “Nursery” means a licensee that produces only clones, immature plants, seeds, and other agricultural products used specifically for the propagation and cultivation of cannabis.

(ak) “Operation” means any act for which licensure is required under the provisions of this division, or any commercial transfer of cannabis or cannabis products.

(al) “Owner” means any of the following:

(1) A person with an aggregate ownership interest of 20 percent or more in the person applying for a license or a licensee, unless the interest is solely a security, lien, or encumbrance.

(2) The chief executive officer of a nonprofit or other entity.

(3) A member of the board of directors of a nonprofit.

(4) An individual who will be participating in the direction, control, or management of the person applying for a license.

(am) “Package” means any container or receptacle used for holding cannabis or cannabis products.

(an) “Person” includes any individual, firm, partnership, joint venture, association, corporation, limited liability company, estate, trust, business trust, receiver, syndicate, or any other group or combination acting as a unit, and the plural as well as the singular.

(ao) “Physician’s
recommendation” means a recommendation by a physician and surgeon that a patient use cannabis provided in accordance with the Compassionate Use Act of 1996 (Proposition 215), found at Section 11362.5 of the Health and Safety Code.

(ap) “Premises” means the designated structure or structures and land specified in the application that is owned, leased, or otherwise held under the control of the applicant or licensee where the commercial cannabis activity will be or is conducted. The premises shall be a contiguous area and shall only be occupied by one licensee.

(aq) “Primary caregiver” has the same meaning as in Section 11362.7 of the Health and Safety Code.

(ar) “Purchaser” means the customer who is engaged in a transaction with a licensee for purposes of obtaining cannabis or cannabis products.

(as) “Sell,” “sale,” and “to sell” include any transaction whereby, for any consideration, title to cannabis or cannabis products is transferred from one person to another, and includes the delivery of cannabis or cannabis products pursuant to an order placed for the purchase of the same and soliciting or receiving an order for the same, but does not include the return of cannabis or cannabis products by a licensee to the licensee from whom the cannabis or cannabis product was purchased.

(at) “Testing laboratory” means a laboratory, facility, or entity in the state that offers or performs tests of cannabis or cannabis products and that is both of the following:

(1) Accredited by an accrediting body that is independent from all other persons involved in commercial cannabis activity in the state.

(2) Licensed by the bureau.

(au) “Unique identifier” means an alphanumeric code or designation used for reference to a specific plant on a licensed premises and any cannabis or cannabis product derived or manufactured from that plant.

(av) “Youth center” has the same meaning as in Section 11353.1 of the Health and Safety Code.

This division shall not apply to any product containing cannabidiol that has been approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration that has either been placed on a schedule of the federal Controlled Substances Act other than Schedule I or has been exempted from one or more provisions of that act, and that is intended for prescribed use for the treatment of a medical condition.